Chapter 15: Rescue Mission
Jessica Cornflower, Parallax Katzenjammer, Maria Delgado and Akane Aino stood at the door to Nanaban High School. On their wrists were their magical Senshi bracelets; Jessica just had received hers from Zelda right before they left. The hyrax herself was in Parallax's arms, as she was curious and wanted to come along for the "ride."
"Okay, everyone, remember our plan. Jessica, you take the first floor. Parallax and I will search the second floor, and Akane and Maria can look in the top floor for Madoka and the Magic Knights. Transform first so you're ready to fight if there's any traps," Zelda said.
"Cinnamon Power, Make Up!" called Parallax.
"Lollipop Prism Power, Make Up!" shouted Akane.
"Butterscotch Power, Make Up!" added Maria.
"Jellybean Prism Power, Make Up!" finished Jessica. Sailor Lollipop went up to the door, which opened automatically for her wheelchair, and then she, Sailor Butterscotch, and Sailor Cinnamon entered the elevator, leaving the newly transformed Sailor Jellybean alone on the first floor.
"Darn it! Why did you Senshi run away from me?! Come back here and fight, you cowards!" shouted a voice.
"Who's there? I can fight you, if needed," Sailor Jellybean announced.
"You? Against me? Why don't I just drop this giant stack of textbooks on you. That'll take care of a pipsqueak pest, I think," the voice said.
"Death Reborn Revolution!" called Sailor Jellybean, shooting into the dark where she thought she heard the voice coming from. Purple ribbons shot from her hands, tearing the textbooks that flew at her to shreds, and she also heard someone's scream. Then the lights came on, and she had to shield her eyes at first.
"That was not fair. You Sailor Senshi really ARE evil," snapped the voice. Sailor Jellybean could now see that it came from a girl with long, sky blue hair, one she recognized from the other Senshi's descriptions as being Umi Ryuuzaki, one of the Magic Knights.
"Not fair? Did you think it was fair for me not to defend myself, mon?"
"Look, Senshi girl, there's a whole lot more of you than there are of us Magic Knights, so we have to fight dirty sometimes," Umi snapped.
"There is only one of me here now, mon. And you seemed quite arrogant before."
"Shut up! Water Dragon!" Umi called, and Sailor Jellybean went skidding across the floor, hit by the water blast.
"Death Reborn Revolution!" the tiny warrior tried again.
"Sapphire Hurricane!" The two attacks collided, sending sharp purple ribbons flying all over the room, both Umi and Sailor Jellybean were cut by them this time. In the mess of flying ribbons and high, rainy winds, some of the textbooks got blown around and one hit Umi in the head, knocking her out. Sailor Jellybean got up slowly from where she had been thrown against the wall, surprised to see Umi disappearing back to the small apartment she shared with Fuu and Hikaru.
Sailor Cinnamon got off at the second floor with Zelda, leaving the other two Senshi to ride to the top. The first thing she noticed was that it was strangely windy in the building, despite the fact that the windows were closed on account of it not being a school day.
"Magic Knight with the wind powers, are you here?" called Sailor Cinnamon.
"Yes. Should we just get the fight overwith, or do you want to talk?" Fuu asked as she came out of her hiding place inside one of the classrooms.
"Are you giving me a choice, or are you trying to distract me?" asked Sailor Cinnamon, setting Zelda on the ground so she could escape if needed.
"Decide for yourself whether or not to trust me and what is the truth. Are you willing to risk being tricked for the sake of knowledge? Either way you may lose something or you may gain something. I had to make that decision once, when I met a mysterious boy in Cephiro," Fuu said cryptically.
"I really don't want to fight you, but we do need to get Madoka back. And I'm NOT giving up my Senshi powers. It actually has nothing to do with you. There's another Sailor Senshi out there who might be trying to kill us," Sailor Cinnamon responded.
"Good for her. Then she's on our side; Clef told us you were going to destroy Cephiro," Fuu stated, her sword materializing in her hand. But she kept it pointed down, she did not let it menace Sailor Cinnamon's throat yet.
"Really? What if that Sailor Senshi is against both of us? What if she pretended to be Clef to trick you? We don't want to attack Cephiro at all, I never knew what that place was until I heard what happened to Sailor Peanut Butter."
"Trick us? How am I supposed to know you're telling the truth?"
"You can't. But then, I can't know that you're telling the truth either. Yet I trusted you and talked instead of fighting you with my fire powers." Fuu backed up, tears filling her eyes. She ran for the stairs, calling out Hikaru's name in a panic. Sailor Cinnamon pressed the button for the elevator in hopes that it might be faster.
Sailor Lollipop and Sailor Butterscotch got off at the top floor and immediately heard the chirping of "puu puu puu" that signaled Mokona's prescence.
"Please, Sailor Senshi, give up your powers. I don't want to kill this girl," pleaded Hikaru's voice as the lights turned on and they could see that Madoka was unconscious and strapped to the wall. Hikaru was wearing Madoka's transformation bracelet, too.
"That's not the only choice! Lollipop Tiara Action!" shouted Sailor Lollipop, throwing an indigo disk of energy at Hikaru, which knocked the latter down before swooping back to land back on the rainbow-haired Senshi's forehead.
"You give me no choice then!" Hikaru sobbed, lunging with her sword for Madoka's heart.
"AURORA HYPNOSIS!" screamed Sailor Butterscotch, and flashes of colorful lights surrounded Hikaru, causing her to stumble around blindly, dropping her sword. She looked around with a goofy smile on her face.
"Pretty colors! There's pretty colors everywhere!" she giggled mindlessly, skipping around the room. Sailor Butterscotch snuck over and began untying Madoka's ropes, letting the muscular child drop to the ground gently. Madoka whimpered slightly as she woke up, Sailor Butterscotch blocking her.
"Hikaru! Hikaru! What are you doing?!" Fuu's panicky voice shrieked as she entered the room.
"Look at the pretty colors Fuu! Can't you see the pretty colors? Everyone look at the pretty colors!" babbled Hikaru dizzily as she danced around Fuu in a circle. Fuu glared at the two Senshi and their barely conscious comrade.
"What did you DO to her?!" Fuu demanded, not noticing as Sailor Cinnamon and a somewhat wounded Sailor Jellybean came out of the elevator behind her.
"Just a harmless spell. She's perfectly safe," Sailor Butterscotch said sincerely, glad that her first Senshi magic was only defensive in nature.
"Safe?! You turned her into a ditzy idiot!" Fuu shouted.
"I couldn't let her kill Madoka! Please excuse Sailor Lollipop's violent behavior too, she was only trying to save her too!"
"Maria, don't trust them so much! They're killers!" warned Sailor Lollipop. Hikaru, still babbling about the "pretty colors," suddenly leaped and crashed into the wall headfirst, knocking herself out.
"YOU SAID IT DIDN'T HURT HER!" screamed Fuu, grabbing Sailor Butterscotch roughly and slamming her to the ground.
"I...I didn't know she would...please don't kill me..."
"Stop it, Fuu! What about the fact that none of us knew about Cephiro until Umi mentioned it? Doesn't that make you think that what you thought was Clef was someone else?!" pleaded Sailor Cinnamon.
"That's a lie! Sailor Peanut Butter knew about Cephiro! She also knew about Alcyone! You Sailor Senshi are dangerous!" retorted Fuu, raising her sword to decapitate the sobbing Sailor Butterscotch.
"Death Reborn Revolution!"
"Lollipop Tiara Action!" The two violet-clad Senshi shot their attacks at Fuu, the ribbons and energy disk knocking her out as she was crashed into the wall. She disappeared like the other two had, but not without glaring at the Sailor Senshi. Sailor Butterscotch looked back at Fuu's fading form sadly, they had just ruined any chance they had of reconciling with the Magic Knights. But she somehow couldn't make herself blame Sailor Lollipop. Instead, she found herself somewhat in awe of the older girl's fierce attitude in battle.